Jacquelyn Ilene Johnson  arrived on June 17, 1989, at Providence Hospital, Southfield Michigan.  She began her gymnastics career at Michigan Academy of Gymnastics (age 2).  Her Mom, Angie, a former gymnast, coach and judge, was her first coach.  At age five she was on pre-team at Michigan Academy of Gymnastics and coached by Cammi Gotchev, a former Bulgarian National Team member.  Her family moved to Clinton, Michigan and she continued to train at Maple City Gymnastics (Adrian, Michigan) where she competed level 4-8 and coached by Mitko (Dmitre) Iliev, former 1988 Olympian from Bulgaria, and Didi (Diliano Glutchkova) Angelova, former 2 time World Champion team member, both from Bulgaria.  While she lived in Michigan, Jacquelyn attended school at Saint Joseph Academy (Adrian) from preschool to 5th grade.  Her coaches, after her Level 7 season,  recommended she to move to a gym where she could continue to reach her potential.  Her family then moved to West Chester, Ohio and she began training at Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy.  She was able to try-out and made Level 8 team and within 2 weeks was moved to the Level 9 team.   Jacquelyn competed Level 9 and made it to 2001 Eastern Nationals (Maryland) and was coached by Ann Kist. 

In 2002, Jacquelyn competed as a Level 10 and won Beam at State and qualified to Regionals.  She was unable to compete at Regionals due to an elbow injury.  During these two years she attended school at The Seven Hills School (as a 6th-7th grader).  In the 2003 season, Jacquelyn was injured and actually competed as a one-arm gymnast.  At the Ohio State Championships she won beam and placed 3rd on floor (coaches were Krissy Hoefferlin, Jamie Broz, and Kim Albrecht).  At Jacquelyn's annual team banquet, she was awarded the "Come Back" award for that season.  For the 2002-2003 school year, she attended ECOT (Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow) the State of Ohio's home school solution.

In the fall of 2003, Jacquelyn returned to public school for the 2003-2004 school year as a Freshman at Lakota Schools.  She began the pre-elite training program with coach Enrique Trabanino.  In October 2003 she traveled to El Salvador with her teammates and coaches Enrique and Tracie Romanini-Voice.  This was Jacquelyn's first International meet, the  COPA FLOR DE IZOT INTERNATIONALE.

In the 2004 season she again competed as a one armed gymnast for part of her events and qualified to J.O. Nationals.  At 2004 JO Nationals she placed 2 AA and made the J.O. National Team.  Two weeks before she left for Nationals, Jacquelyn qualified as an International Elite to the U.S. Classics in Rochester New York.  This began her career as an Elite gymnast coached by Mary Lee Tracy.  She returned from JO Nationals and began training as an Elite for U.S. Classics.  At Classics Jacquelyn made all her routines, but they weren't up to the difficulty that she needed.  She missed qualifying to U.S. Championships, but she returned to CGA excited to work on upgrading her routines.  At CGA's annual banquet she was awarded "Hardest Worker" for Level 10.  Team CGA went to Woodward Camp in July and enjoyed a fun week with the staff and Mike Lorenzen.  In August, 2004, Jacquelyn and her teammate traveled with their coach to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado for J.O. National Training camp.  In October 2004 she had her third elbow surgery, and was back to full workout in a month and a half.  She and her family are very grateful for the skill and helpful care of Dr. Hill Hastings at the Indiana Hand Center and Dr. Larry Nassar, USAG National Team physician.  In November she traveled to Beijing, China, with the Region 5 All Star team to train at China's National Training Center in Beijing with the Chinese National Teams. 

Jacquelyn had improved her routines by January 2005 and Mary Lee thought that she should send in a tape to Marta Karolyi and the National Team staff, to attend national training camp at the Karolyi's Ranch in Houston, Texas.  She received the invitation to attend the January training camp, and has returned to the ranch each month (February, March and April) for monthly training and verification.  In February she competed  full routines at camp and qualified to USA Championships, as a senior, along with her other senior team mate, Hilary Mauro  and juniors Monica Shoji and Ashley Priess.  By the end of July, Jacquelyn had practiced hours and hours to perfect her routines for the US Classic in Virginia Beach.  She placed fourteenth out of thirty three girls and eighth on floor exercise.  With a meet under her belt just a few weeks before the USA Championships, Jacquelyn felt extremely prepared and had confidence in herself to hit her routines.  In August, Jac competed in the biggest meet of her life, the USA Championships.  She had a great two days of competition and placed tenth in the all-around and fifth on balance beam and uneven bars.  She also qualified to the Senior National Team! 

This school year Jacquelyn is a junior at Lakota West along with her teammates, Hilary and Ashley.  Her short term goals are to attend the Ranch in December and possibly be assigned an international assignment.  She will also be reviewing her colligate opportunities.

 
BIRTH DATE June 17, 1989
BIRTHPLACE Michigan
RESIDENCE Ohio
PARENTS Angie and Chuck
SIBLINGS Marshall
PETS Hillary (German Shepard) and Buddy (Leonberger) and three turtles
GRADE 11th
SCHOOL Lakota West High School
GPA 3.8
HOBBIES reading, hanging with friends, knitting, and listening to music